Adeptus Mechanicus
The Adeptus Mechanicus - often known simply as the Mechanicus or AdMech - is a vast galaxy spanning Imperial organisation dedicated to the pursuit & preservation of technology and scientific knowledge. An ancient & powerful organisation stooped in ritual and superstition, the AdMech is the sole authority on technology in the entire Imperium and it is through their knowledge & expertise that humanity survives. Officially a part of the Imperium, the AdMech is in practice an allied, parallel empire with its own hierarchy, practices, and responsibilities that stand in stark contrast to humanity's two other main pillars, the Administratum and Ecclesiarchy. The Mechanicus is based on - and originates from - the red planet of Mars, neighbour of Terra in the Sol System itself. The AdMech domain consists of the mighty Forge Worlds dotted across the galaxy, from which they control colossal manufacturing lines, great armies of cyber warriors, and vast Explorator Fleets that search for knowledge across the stars. The Adeptus Mechanicus is represented in the Senatorum Imperialis by the Fabricator-General of Mars itself. A permanent member of the High Lords of Terra, the Fabricator-General of Mars carries enormous influence over the entire AdMech and therefore over the entire Imperium. The Mechanicus in Sector Deus 'Adeptus Mechanicus' The Adeptus Mechanicus has a long history in Sector Deus. They first came to this region of space during the Age of Strife, founding the Forge World of Nestorium which was later brought into the wider Mechanicus fold during the Great Crusade. Each fresh reclamation of this tumultuous Sector brought another wave of AdMech to Deus, and some of them claimed newly discovered worlds for their own and made them into new Forge Worlds. On the peripheries of the galaxy the Deus AdMech has a lot more exposure to exotic technology and this has produced competing puritan & radical idologies regarding research & experimentation. While still a major regional power, the Deus AdMech's fractured state means it is not as irreproachable as in more established regions. True Forge Worlds in Sector Deus: *'Nestorium' - First and greatest of the Deus Forge Worlds, Nestorium is a technological powerhouse that controls the lion's share of the Sector's technological expertise as well as its higher technology production. Nestorium also controls the majority of AdMech military forces in the Sector, and is known to have its own Titan Legions as well as the largest Techno-Fleet. Nestorium is the birthplace of the Nestorian Learners AdMech faction, and this is currently the dominant faction of the Forge World. The Iron Monks - dominant cult of the local Ecclesiarchy - have an intense contentian with the Nestorian Learners, and this is fuelling conflict between the two institutions. *'Agrotus' - A younger, smaller Forge World located in Subsector Ionium. Agrotus is known for its Organicists faction and has an affinity towards biological & chemical sciences. Despite its specialisations Agrotus is still a considerable conventional manufacturer and has considerable influence over the surrounding systems' technology, and after the Ionian Crusades gutted the rest of the Subsector Agrotus' influence over Ionium has increased dramatically. *'Yixiu' - The youngest true Forge World in Sector Deus, located in Subsector Aeternus. Yixiu was established by a group of orthodox Techpriests and thus follows traditional Martian ideology, meaning it is considered the most stable and typical Forge World in Deus in terms of behaviour. Yixiu is also known for its expertise with heat-based weapons (flame, melta, & plasma), and is the home of a number of modified designs for such weapons. Yixiu supplies the local Ecclesiarchy as the Iron Monks refuse to procure their technology (and that of the Order of Bloody Tears) from Nestorium, and only Yixian Techpriests are used to maintain their technology. Other AdMech or AdMech-allied worlds in Sector Deus: *'Mandel' - Technically a Forge World in Subsector Dominus. Mandel is very young and was founded by a splinter faction that lacks any real support or resources from the wider AdMech. Thus Mandel has developed slowly and lacks the real facilities & expertise of a true Forge World. Nevertheless it has significant influence over the nearest Systems, and owns the mining world of Atremia in the neighbouring Marien System. *'Cygnus A*' - A substantial Nestorian research facility that orbits a black hole in Subsector Adamantis. It is home to a large number of simultaneous projects but is most notable for its work in researching dark matter and grav weaponry. *'Fyphe' - A Knight World in Subsector Adamantis. Fyphe is ruled by House Macrae which is allied with Nestorium, who provides the Houses' Sacristans along with replacement components and chassis for their Knight Walkers. 'Notable Adeptus Mechanicus personnel in Sector Deus' *'Fabricator-General Horaxo Regon (RHO-344-093)' - Fabricator-General of Nestorium and therefore the most powerful Techpriest in the Sector. Ordinarily Regon would wield enormous influence and power over Deus, but the Nestorian Learners' (the faction he leads) tenuous standing with Mars forces him to be more subdued & passive regarding Sector politics. He is a firm adherent of the Quest for Knowledge and an ally of the Ghosts of Retribution. 'Dark Mechanicus' The Grave - as a major stronghold of the corrupt - naturally plays host to a significant Dark Mechanicus presence and every Warband and Chaos Reaver vessel will have its own clades of Hereteks maintaining their equipment and ships. The only known distinct Dark Mechanicus faction in Sector Deus is the Proselytes of Monophysitism, who are based on the Dark Forge World of Antioch deep within The Grave. Other factions and Dark Forge Worlds are assumed to exist within the twisted Warp Storm, but no others are known to the Imperium by name. 'Other Mechanicus' Techpriests are also found amongst the ranks of pirates & rebels across the Sector in order to maintain their technology & vessels. These Techpriests can turn against the Imperial fold for any of the same reasons a non-Mechanicus pirate/rebel may turn against the Imperium, such as personal gain or ideological contentions. However many are instead captured and/or pressganged into anti-Imperial service, their expertise making them ripe targets for such enslavement. Captured Techpriests are known to be highy desired amongst the Sector's illegal slave trade, especially by pirates, for Techpriests are as vital to running a voidship as fuel. History In the throes of the Age of Strife, after mankind's technology had betrayed him and ruination befell the human race, the Mechanicum formed on Mars while Terra was enduring the carnage of the technobarbarian wars. As fundamentalists who believed that all technology possessed a spirit with varying degrees of potency, and who worshipped the Omnissiah '''- the Machine God - as the sources of these spirits, the Mechanicum came to dominate Martian doctrine and eventually Mars itself. When the God-Emperor united Terra after his Unification Wars, he formed a pact with the Mechanicum. Becoming the Adeptus Mechanicus, they would be allowed their independent practices & religion in exchange for providing the God-Emperor's Imperium with the technology it needed to reclaim the galaxy. In time the AdMech would come to view the Emperor as an avatar of the Omnissiah. During the Age of Strife itself the Martian Mechanicum had sent countless Expeditionary Fleets through the warp storms of the era into the distant void, and it is these expeditions that founded many of the Forge Worlds across the galaxy (many more since have formed after the AdMech claimed a world). The Great Crusade brought these worlds into the fold too, and the AdMech became a galaxy-spanning powerhouse that rivalled the rest of the Imperium in power thanks to their technological dominance. However the AdMech were not spared the calamities of the Horus Heresy, and split in two during this disaster. The Adeptus Mechanicus remained true to their original teachings, that the Omnissiah lived in all technology and that reckless innovation invited wrath in the form of warp & chaos influence (as had happened during the Age of Strife). The '''Dark Mechanicum (also known as the DarkMek, and whose scions are called Hereteks) instead embraced this influence, believing that utilising the warp itself (or simply ignoring all established rites and cautions) was the key to further innovation. The Dark Mechanicum produced - and still produces - hideous daemon engines and warp-empowered machines, and are as reviled and corrupted as the traitor Astartes they often ally with. The AdMech defeated the DarkMech during the Battle of Terra at the climax of the Horus Heresy, in a simultaneous Battle of Mars. After their defeat the remainder of the DarkMech led into the void & warp, scattering across the stars like the rest of the heretic forces. In the 10,000 years since the Adeptus Mechanicus has endured as one of the main pillars of the Imperium, but their wary & dogmatic practices - though borne of justified caution - keep innovation incredibly slow. Their jealous hoarding of knowledge between Forge Worlds & individuals also limits the spread of knowledge, and for every new technology produced or rediscovered, another is forgotten. Religion & Doctrine The official religion of the Adeptus Mechanicus all their Forge Worlds' inhabitants is the Machine Cult. In the Machine Cult the Omnissiah is the almighty God, and the Emperor is seen as an avatar of the Omnissiah, but there is still considerable friction between the AdMech and the Ecclesiarchy due to their highly divergent views. Official Martian Doctrine is that innovation & inspiration be discouraged in favour of rediscovering mankind's lost wonders of the Dark Age of Technology. That intense care must be taken with anything unknown, and the proper & extensive rites must be followed when building & maintaining known technology. Only STC designs are fully approved, and it can take centuries for any modified or combined designs to be granted STC status. Despite their fundamentalism this is still only the typical doctrine. Forge Worlds can vary dramatically in their outlook with some totally banning any independent research and only accepting recovered & verified STCs. While others actively encourage innovation and look at ways to combine or adapt existing STCs while looking for new ones as well. Naturally these differences can be a source of great contention between and within Forge Worlds, and entire Forge Worlds have been purged in the past after Mars judged them too divergent. 'Standard Templace Constructs (STCs)' The building blocks of the Dark Age of Technology, STCs are blueprints & design instructions for devices of all kinds, from simple dataslates to complete infrastructure systems. STCs for almost everything imaginable exist, ranging from common household appliances to the mightiest of war machines. In the Dark Age enormous STC databases were carried across the stars by human colonisers, but through the Age of Strife & Horus Heresy the ruination of mankind saw these databases lost & destroyed. On most worlds only cogitator fragments or dusty physical printouts survived - if anything - and the absolute destruction of humanity's scientific community in the Sol System saw the species' technological understanding regress by tens of thousands of years to a state from which it has barely started to recover. Interestingly, starships are one of the few things in the Imperium that are not solely based on STC designs. Presumably because any far-flung colony that developed to the point where they would require starships, would no longer need an easy-to-use STC design to do so. While a number of starship components are STC designs, the starship hulls and layouts are (mostly) not. Therefore starships are one of the few things in the Imperium that the AdMech is known for innovating with, and there are therefore a large variety of patterns and classes of vessel across the galaxy because of this - many designed and built locally. Finding STC designs - be they locked within a shattered dataslate or printed on an ancient codex - is the primary objective of the Adeptus Mechanicus, an eternal mission known as the Quest for Knowledge. The Quest for Knowledge is what drives the majority of the AdMech, and is the full pursuit of their great Explorator Fleets. Structure Like the rest of the Imperium the AdMech is highly feudalistic. Each Forge World governs itself and dictates its own interactions with the rest of the local Imperium. While a pseudo-heirarchy exists between Forge Worlds of varying prominence - with Mars, the first Forge World, at the very top - this is more a representation of influence than direct authority. These Forge Worlds form links with the surrounding Imperium, providing their technological expertise (which they hoard & guard jealously, even from other Forge Worlds) and manufacturing capabilities in exchange for raw resources, food, and other goods that the often polluted Forge Worlds cannot produce themselves. The materiel produced by Forge Worlds is massive in both quantity and variety, ranging from humble lasguns to super-heavy vehicles and starships, but it is known that the AdMech retains the best for themselves and their own armies. The personnel provided by Forge Worlds range immensely from humble Enginseers who maintain tanks and build bunkers, to skilled Magi who oversee the construction of entire starships or craft the finest technologies like force fields and power weapons. The scope of the AdMech's expertise is vast and thus penetrates almost every strata of Imperial society, both civilian and military, and encompasses every physical & natural science from avionics to genetics. A Forge World is a law unto itself. They alone decide upon the practices of their forges, armies, and fleets, and should their actions bring them into contention with any other organisation within the Imperium there is often little recourse. Naturally official complaints and challenges may be heard by an Adeptus Arbites or Inquisition court, or an edict may even be laid down by the local Sector Governor. But it is strongly possible that the Forge World in question will simply ignore any commands or threats of imprisonment from other institutions. From here escalation can occur, and all-out conflict between the Imperium and particular Forge Worlds is not unheard of. But the Imperium's dependance on the AdMech's technical expertise in nearly all stratas of society makes it very difficult to level real consequences upon them for their actions. Still this depends heavily on the local politics at play, and a Forge World may find itself in a more easily leveraged position should they be heavily reliant on food imports or not the only Forge World available to the local Imperium. Of course there may also be rogue elements of a Forge World sullying their name with nefarious actions (or who were foolish enough to be seen by Imperials committing such misdeeds). In such cases the Forge World in question will often take it upon themselves to police their own in order to save face, resulting in a delicate balance of judicial give & take with the local Imperium. 'Military' Each Forge World has their own military forces, and the collective military might of the Adeptus Mechanicus is staggering when their technological advantage is taken into account. 'Legiones Skitarii' The primary military force of any Forge World is the Legiones Skitarii - more commonly referred to as the Skitarii or Tech-Guard. The Legiones Skitarii is a comprehensive combined-arms military composed of advanced technology operated and used by cybernetically augmented humans - typically martial souls from the Forge Worlds themselves. Advanced personnel armour & weapons are commonplace, while the Legiones Skitarii also operate vast divisions of esoteric, AdMech unique war machines such as the Krios batle tank, Onager dunecrawler, and Ironstrider walker - all of which incorporate vastly superior technology to their Imperial Guard counterparts (if such counterparts even exist) such as Lightning Cannons and Phosphor Blasters. Distinctive cyborg warriors that gleam with bionics & armour beneath heavy cloaks, the Skitarii are potent soldiers and vastly superior to the slow, dumb servitors that cannot act independently (while Skitarii tend to have some degree of cranial augmentation, they retain their identity and ability to act alone). Skitarii are efficient & obedient soldiers and each unit is both augmented & equipped with superior AdMech technology to suit them towards a specific purpose. Scout units equipped with swift legs and accurage galvanic rifles, assault units are often plated with heavy armour & cybernetics, and vehicle operators interface directly with their machines. The Legiones Skitarii has its own internal military heriarchy but will come under the overall command of Techpriests empowered by their Forge World's council to control a given unit of Skitarii. For example an Archmagos that leads an Explorator Fleet may have a Macroclade of Skitarii given to their command. Each Forge World has a number of Legions (small Forge Worlds may only have a few, while the greatest Forge Worlds could have hundreds) of Skitarii - and a Legion is of no defined size but is made up of any number of Macroclades. Each Macroclade is composed of 4 Cohorts which are in turn composed of 3 Maniples each. A Skitarii Maniple can vary in size depending on how it is equipped and what war machines it operates, though a typical Maniple is similar to a Platoon in size (thus making a Cohort comparable to a Company and a Macroclade comparable to a Battalion). A Maniple is drastically contrary to an Imperial Guard Platoon though, in that all AdMech formations are often combined-arms units composed of a balance of different infantry types and supporting war machines that are greater than the sum of their parts. The most 'typical' type of Skitarii Maniple is composed of around 30 Skitarii Infantry (with a mixture of light and heavy weapons), a squad of Ironstrider Cavalry, and a unit of 2 or 3 Onager Dunecrawlers for heavy support. Of course specialised Maniples composed solely of Cavalry, Artillery, or Armoured vehicles are also commonplace, but will typically be deployed with supporting Maniples. 'Collegia Titanicus' While the Skitarii are the core of the AdMech military, the legendary Titans are by far the more famous. Known as God-Machines, these colossal walkers come under the authority of the Collegia Titanicus which - while commanded by the Forge World's council - has its own internal heirarchy, recruitment, and training practices and draws its personnel from the Forge World populace. Ranging from the 'small' Warhound-class (that stands almost ten times the height of a man) to the earth-rumbling Emperor-class, Titans wield weapons that can obliterate entire hab-blocks in moments and can only be piloted via mind link by those with phenomenal strength of will - as each Titan has its own ancient machine spirit with which a pilot must contend for control. The first Titan Legions were dispatched from Mars during the Age of Strife with the first Explorator Fleets - to help claim new Forge Worlds - and many have persisted through the millennia since. Generally each established Forge World will have a single Titan Legion - often one that helped create it - though this can vary if they employ irregular formations and/or have inherited the remains of an 'orphaned' Titan Legion that has lost its home. Titan Legions have proud histories and multi-millennia histories, and so if even just a single Titan remains of a Legion they will not fold into another, preparing to die under their own banner. While the AdMech has not lost the art of Titan construction it is mostly limited to the oldest Forge Worlds and is always arduous and lengthy, ensuring that these walking avatars of the Omnissiah are ever coveted & prized by the AdMech. 'Other Forces' As large worlds of many people, Forge Worlds have a number of other sources they can call upon for war. 'Battle Servitors' Vast units of battle-servitors are a common sight amongst any AdMech army, as they are disposable and able to mount heavy weapons in a variety of patterns from tracked variants to heavy walkers. A Battle-Servitor unit shuffles forwards in a horde as more agile murder servitors and heavily armoured Kataphrons stand out from the packs, and their resilience can be an intimidating sight despite their sometimes clumsy movements and poor coordination. Each Servitor horde will be accompanied by Techpriests to keep them in line - often well-shielded by their disposable underlings. 'Legio Cybernetica' The constructors & controllers of potent Battle-Automota that tower over man & skitarii alike - and found in innumreable variants for every possible battlefield need. These robots require direction from accompanying Techpriests - not unlike servitors - but have much more potent motive & targeting systems and are far superior warriors. Robots can also endure far greater punishment and carry far heavier weapons than Skitarii, and thus are often used for frontal assaults and besieging the enemy. 'Auxilia Myrmidon' Often considered the special forces of a Forge World military, the Myrmidons are Techpriests utterly devoted to the art of combat. Myrmidon are extremely augmented with advanced armours, near-total bionics, heavy weapon mounts and sensory improvements, which coupled with their battle experience makes them incredibly potent warriors and almost indestructible. Dispatched on the most important missions - notably those that involve hunting down renegade Techpriests or even assassination - the Myrmidon tend to operate in small units and are often equipped with advanced and ancient weapons. Their highly predatory skills also make them masters of siege craft and weapons operation, as they target the weaknesses in enemy fortresses and other redoubts. 'Electro-Priests' Perhaps the mst curious of the AdMechs auxiliaries are the Electro-Priests. Embedded with copper electoos, static capacitors & other conduit bionics, these Priests are militantly fanatical devotees of the Motive Force - an aspect of the Omnissiah. Often operating in squads, Electro-Priests channel the energy stored in their enhanced bodies into electrical phenomena like lightning, and like the engage the foes of the Omnissiah up close with electrified fists and static storms. Higher ranking Electro-Priests may go by Electro-Magos or Electro-Magos Prime. 'Allied Knight Houses' A significant source of military strength for any Forge World allied to a Knight House, these smaller walkies are often deployed as scouts and close anti-infantry support for the Titan Legions, and are potent war machines in their own right that operate in squadrons. 'Centurio Ordinatus' The final element of the AdMech's atmospheric military. A loose division of Techpriests that span the entire galaxy with members on every Forge World, the Centurio Ordinatus oversees the creation & propogation of unique, custom-built superweapons known as Ordanati. Each Ordinatus is created by an inspired Techpriest(s) to confront a particular threat, and are named after their world of origin. Often taking the form of a colossal weapon-carrying mobile platform (though theoretically anything sufficiently destructive & unique may be an Ordinatus), these Ordinati are often expended eliminating a threat and then lay dormant for millennia. The Centurio Ordinatus ensures that knowledge of the Ordinati are not lost, and that they can be built again should the Imperium face the same threats. Thus does the Centurio Ordinatus oversee great vaults on Forge Worlds across the galaxy containing slumbering Ordinati and plans for constructing them, these might weapons ever ready to serve should they be needed once more. 'Fleet' Each Forge World also controls their own voidfleet, often consisting of AdMech-unique hulls that incorporate superior technology to their Imperial Navy equivalents. The size of a Forge World's techno-fleet will depend on the size and age of the Forge World itself, but they are typically potent - though not overwhelming - Naval powers within their Sector. While most AdMech vessels are modified & upgraded versions of the well known hull designs, such as the Lunar-class cruiser or Sword-class frigate, their very largest vessels are unique and lovingly constructed masterpieces of technology. These battleship-sized vessels are known as Ark Mechanici, and each Ark Mechanicus will mount the most formidable technologies their Forge World of origin is able to construct. Most importantly, a Forge World's techno-fleet is not a dedicated defensive/offensive force (though this of course comes within their mandate) but rather an exploratoration force. Elements of a Forge World's techno-fleet will be dispatched to explore unknown space in search of technology, knowledge, and the much desired STCs. These Explorator Fleets, as they are known, are the embodiment of the AdMech's Quest for Knowledge and considered by the AdMech to be their most important operations. Mechanicus ships naturally have large Techpriest complements, as well as dedicated Naval tacticians and Skitarii defence units from their Forge World of origin, but the bulk of the crew is composed of Servitors. 'Knight Worlds' In the mists of the Age of Strife when many Forge Worlds began forming in the far reaches of the galaxy, they swiftly began forming alliances with the human worlds around them. The Knight Worlds were planets colonised in the Dark Age of Technology, where the locals used massive walkers both for labour and to defend their settlements. These walkers were controlled using sophisticated neural links and responded best only to specific bloodlines. During the Age of Strife these worlds were isolated and often attacked heavily, and those families capable of piloting the Knight Walkers - as they became known - naturally became the rulers of their beleagured planets. As the AdMech expanded they found these Knight Worlds. And most were often in dire need of technological support as they struggled to maintain their ancient Knight Walkers. The burgeoning Forge Worlds allied with these Knight Worlds, providing technological support in exchange for resources such as agri or minerals. These Forge Worlds' ancient agreements to help Knight Worlds maintain their technlogy predates even their agreement with the wider Imperium, and thus has different terms. AdMech-trained personnel maintaining technology throughout the wider Imperium are subjects of the Mechanicus and ultimately loyal to them. However on Knight Worlds the Adeptus Mechanicus trains local servants in the art of technological maintenance. These Sacristans '- as they are known - are given the knowledge of the AdMech but not the indoctrination, and remain loyal only to their Knightly Household. Furthermore the Knight Walkers - modified and optimised for combat - were now potent war machines, and the Knight Houses that dominate these Knight Worlds often answer the call to war from their allied Forge World (and/or the local Imperium as well). 'Techmarines While the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes have many Techpriests amongst their Chapter Serfs to keep their advanced war machines maintained, even armoured Enginseers are ill-suited to performing their duties in the midst of an Astartes assault. Therefore Space Marines with the right skills and mindset - often identified as Scouts or earlier - for the Adeptus Mechanicus are sent to Forge Worlds to study the art of technology for several years. These superhumans' accelerated learning abilities and tireless dedication sees them absorp a colossal amount of information and Techmarine training is the most intensive course the AdMech can provide. By the end of this course the Techmarine has been fully inducted into the Priesthood and the Machine Cult, and has learnt almost everything there is to know about reparing & maintaining war machines - especially those use by the Astartes. Obviously specialised towards military engineering, Techmarines are also fortification & siegecraft experts and able to turn a ruin into a bunker or reduce a bunker to rubble with their knowledge. Chapter starships of course also come under their expertise, though each crew will also have large Techpriest complements. Thanks to their superhuman learning capacity a 'new' Techmarine is the rival of any experienced Magos when it comes to matters of war machines, weapons, demolitions and fortifications, and as Techmarines serve their Chapter and grow in experience & knowledge they can develop exceptional skills of fabrication and artifice. Some of the finest weapons and armour in existence were forged & crafted by Techmarines, as these warrior-craftsmen use weapons as much as they make them and know exactly what is needed in a weapon. The most experienced Techmarines can move beyond solely military applications of knowledge too, designing infrastructure for their homeworld and even researching new sciences. A Chapter's finest Techmarine - the Master of the Forge - is considered equivalent to an Archmagos in abilities, with a warfare specialisation but immense knowledge in nearly all things. Along with all this knowledge, Techmarines are still Space Marines and therefore warriors of great potency. They extensively modify & upgrade their own armour to artificer standards, and their heightened senses allow them to control multiple servo-arms & mechanderites in battle with astounding precision. With these servo-limbs a Techmarine can patch a vehicle and slaughter enemies at the same time, and they are usually accompanied by a retinue of servitors - some armed with heavy weapons - for assistance. Masters of the Forge are also known to personally wield the Chapter's most archaic marvels in battle, such as rad-weapons and conversion beamers. The Priesthood The ordained members of the Adeptus Mechanicus - the Techpriests - are the core of the institution. To become a Techpriest one must prove a level of intelligence & scientific ability to more senior Techpriests, and vast academies & Temples - located mostly on Forge Worlds but also dotted around other major worlds - are devoted to tutoring aspirants and grading them through various exams and tasks. These aspirants can potentially come from any source the AdMech deems worthy of a place in their education system, though naturally the vast majority hail from the Forge Worlds themselves. Techpriests - regardless of their origins - are taught to be full devotees of the Machine God and the AdMech's Quest for Knowledge above all other things, and while they go on to choose specialities all will be taught a broad base of basic scientific & technological principles and practices. From here Techpriests can go on to an enormous range of pursuits from Medicae to Shipbuilding, and in time may even come to master multiple fields. Typically - but not always - aloof and assured of their superiority through technology, a typical Techpriest's cold & logical thinking patterns may seem almost alien to a regular human. Techpriests often also believe in shedding their weak biological lesh in favour of hand-crafted bionics both internal & external, which results in older Techpriests ften being more machine than man. Still there are Techpriests who prefer to retain their flesh or adopt cybernetics that mimic it, and these Techpriests - often of a Biologis stance - may be trated with amusement or disdain by their more traditionally bionic fellows. 'Heirarchy' Adeptus Mechanicus heirarchy is densely clustered and most ranks have a range of additional classifications and prefixes/suffices to denote specialisations. However the basic heirarchy of defined superiority is as follows: *'Fabricator-General' - The head of a Forge World. Often immensely knowledgeable and respected, Fabricator-Generals can be selected in a number of ways that vary from Forge World to Forge World. Some nominate their successors while others may have their Machine Council of senior Techpriests vote on the matter. Either way, Fabricator-Generals are incredibly powerful individuals who command not only extensive manufacturing & expertise leverage over the surrounding Imperium, but also the substantial military forces of their Forge World. *'Fabricator-Locum' - A Fabricator-General's appointed deputy and second-in-command. Often highly skiled & wise advisors, Fabricator-Locums are often selected for more administrative skills so they can run the Forge World itself. Fabricator-Locums will also be expected to assume command should a Fabricator-General die or be incapacitated unexpectedly, so a level head and ability to perform under pressure is also vital. *'Archmagos' - The most senior AdMech rank possible without ruling a Forge World. Archmagi are masters of technology and while they may still have specialities they will excel in almost every field. Numbering perhaps only a handful on each Forge World, they are often the primary driving force behind any 'new' or modified technology, as only they possess a deep enough understanding of scientific principles to innovate in such a way. An equivalent rank is Forge Master, who are Archmagi of manufacturing and have been put in charge of entire nation-sized Forge complexes on the Forge Worlds themselves. *'Magos Prime' - Experienced and highly respected, Magos Primes have proven an absolute knowledge in their chosen field as well as a broad ability in all sciences. Typically the most senior AdMech rank found outside Forge Worlds, Magos Primes may oversee entire manufacturing cities or shipyards to keep them functioning, and are often found serving as heads of AdMech Temples. *'Magos' - A broad rank of Techpriest. To reach this rank a Techpriest must go beyond simply following procedures & orders and must show an ability to genuinely understand scientific principles behind their chosen speciality and an ability to perform genuine research & deduction. Magi can vary extremely by skill & experience, but all are held in a high regard by their lessers. Found throughout the Imperium as senior specialists, Magi may oversee ship construction, lead prospecting expeditions, perform complex medicae procedures, or many other duties that require genuine knowledge. There also exists the position of Chief Enginseer, a Magos-equivalent rank for maintenance Techpriests that oversee large installations such as starships and therefore command dozens of lesser Enginseers. *'Ordinary Techpriest' - A vast range of positions and titles that are ostensibly equal in rank. Typically devoted to a single speciality based on their strengths discovered during their evaluation as an aspirant, Ordinary Techpriests - while still respected by non-Techpriests for their abilities - are held in loow regard by the Magi and still considered effectively students. Many Ordinary Techpriests may never possess the intelligence required to ascend to Magos, but they are all vital functionaries that operate throughout every level of the Imperium. Maintaining war machines for the Imperial Guard & Imperial Navy, operating & maintaining complex civilian machines like factories & infrastructure, and overseeing assembly lines on the Forge Worlds are all examples of the duties of the Ordinary Priesthood. Some of the more common Ordinary Techpriest positions are: **'Artificer' - The craftsmen & constructors of the AdMech. Amongst the most respected Ordinary Techpriests, Artificers primarily work on Forge Worlds overseeing assembly lines & constructing technology of all kinds. This is a highly varied duty and different Artificers could work on anything from bionics to military aircraft. Some Artificers remain pure craftsmen in their homeworld Forges, hoping one day to ascend to Forge Master. Others meanwhile may use their skills to start making modified designs & show genuine innovative skill & knowledge, and it is often these Techpriests that can go on to become the most renowned creators of the AdMech. Artificers outside of Forge Worlds are often elite crafters & builders, designing important infrastructure & architecture or crafting high technology for the planet's elite. **'Enginseer' - Techpriests attached to other Imperial institutions like the Imperial Guard/Navy, other militaries (PDFs, Astartes etc), civilian facilities (such as industrial districts & Chartist vessels), as well as the AdMech's own armies like the Titan Legions. Immensely numerous and dedicated to repairing & maintaining vehicles, equipment, and technology of all kinds. Enginseers can be assigned to maintaining anything from Leman Russ tanks to city power systems, from Navy cruisers to civilian cargo lighters. Enginseers in the Imperial Guard are often clad in self-made power armour as they must often do their duties under enemy fire, while those in the void are the most vital crewmembers of a voidship. Enginseers are deployed to official Imperial Insitutions as part of the AdMech's treaty with the Imperium, while civilian facilities tend to pay significant tithe to the AdMech for the services of their Enginseers. By the AdMech at large Enginseers are viewed as lowly functionaries who do not contribute to the Quest for Knowledge, but are vital nonetheless and all hope to one day ascend to Magos. **'Biologis' - Dedicated to the science of living things. In addition to those who conduct pure research on their own Forge World, Biologises can cover a range of duties including wildlife analysis on Frontier worlds, crop science on Agri World, and Medical Science on any world. This is a broad range and typically a Biologis will specialise in a specific life-related pursuit. Therefore Biologises can also be found in other institutions, such as an Administratum explorer party that needs a genetic analyser, or stationed in a civlian hospital/clinic where they can command enormous sums of money from the Imperium's well-off for their medicae skills. They are seen as valuable by the AdMech at large but also odd for their typically greater affinity to flesh. 'Other Priesthood Divisions' While the above are standalone titles, Techpriests (including Magi and above) can belong to ideological and/or specialised groups as well. Membership of these groups is typically displayed in the form of a prefix or suffix to the Techpriest's official rank, and none of these are explicitly binding so a Techpriests may change multiple times over their careers. *'Biologis' - In addition to the Ordinary Techpriest title, this is also a common suffix seen throughout the mechanicus Magi - such is the scope of the life sciences and the studies possible therein. The best Magi Biologis are masters of medicae & biology, and often in high demand by the Imperial elite for their skills with organic body enhancements and augmentations, as well as cybernetic installation abilities. A subgroup with the suffix of Genetor also exists, devoted to the limitless study of DNA, genetics, evolution & mutation specifically. Other subgroups include Xenologis (study of Xenos biology) and Neurosis (study of brains). *'Explorators' - True scions of the Quest for Knowledge, Explorators are explorers & researchers who seek to recover (or redevelop) mankind's lost technology. To this end they often accompany Imperial explorers like Rogue Traders and the forefront of Imperial expansion - including lethal warzones. Seen as reckless or even dangerous by their fellows, Explorators naturally form the bulk of the Priesthood of the Explorator Fleets, and may be sent to distant research stations to conduct their dangerous experimentations. *'Alchemys' - Techpriests specialised towards chemicals and compounds. Covering a broad range of things from Promethium enrichment by Enginseers, to explosive manufacturing by Artificers, or chemical analysis by Explorators. Techpriests Alchemys are an important part of Imperial industry. *'Dominus' - Techpriests devoted to war strategy. An uncommon but righteous calling, Techpriests Dominus are field commanders & strategic commanders of AdMech warzones and depending on their rank could lead anything from a few companies to vast armies. Should a Forge World enter a time of great war many Techpriests will gravitate towards this calling, from Ordinary to Archmagi. *'Electro-Priest' - A militant ideological group that attaches the 'Electro-' prefix to their titles. In addition to their usual duties (often Enginseers that work on power systems) these Techpriests have a fiercely militant belief in the Motive Force - a major aspect of the Omnissiah that represents electromagnetism - and believe wielding the Motive Force in battle is the best way to worship the Omnissiah. Electro-Priests and Electro-Magi take to the field of battle wielding lightning & static stored within their copper electoos and bionic battery stacks, often wearing nothing but capacitor coils and discharge rings to keep their charged flesh exposed. This list is by no means exhaustive and there are hundreds of known specialisations within the Adeptus Mechanicus. Menials & Tech-Adepts The AdMech priesthood is vast, but they are far to few to handle all of the technical needs of humanity. The colossal assembly lines of Forge Worlds & Industrial Worlds (and any other large factory) need many hands while the more banal technical work like maintaining civilian autos, installing light switches, fixing tank tracks, or disabling enemy security in the field, are so immensely widespread that the Priesthood alone cannot hope to manage it all. 'Menials' Menials are the Forge World civilians under the control of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Making up the bulk of the population of any Forge World, they live and die under the command of the Techpriests. Most work on the vast Forge World assembly lines, operate the Forge World's infrastructure, or - for those of a martial pursuit - be inducted into the Legiones Skitarii. Some may serve as the most basic of Techpriest research assistants or administrative drones, while a few with the noted skills may become Naval strategists in the Tech-Fleet. Only the best Menials are given the chance to join the Priesthood itself their talents usually noticed at an early age in the Forge World's schooling system. Forge World Menials follow the religious teachings of the Adeptus Mechanicus rather than the Imperial Cult, worshipping the Omnissiah, and upon death many are recycled into Servitor components and Servo-Skulls. Like any human world Forge Worlds are not without troublemakers and rule breakers, but Adeptus Mechanicus justice is swift and harsh. Most Forge World criminals are simply augmented into Servitors, their minds broken and bodies reshaped to suit industrial or combat needs. Others may be turned into Tech-Thralls, installed with cheap mindslaving brain implants that are used as disposable workers in industry and cannon fodder in battle. 'Tech-Adepts' Tech-Adepts are individuals that have been trained in technological maintenance & fabrication to a minor - usually highly specialised degree. While often taught & trained by Techpriests, Tech-Adepts are not typically members or subjects of the Adeptus Mechanicus (unless they were Forge World Menials of course) and so are not worshippers of the Omnissiah (most being devotees of the Imperial Cult instead). Because of this they usually have to pay to receive this training, often either in local currency or labour. Often Tech-Adepts are rather typical and normal people (by their homeworld's standards) for which maintenance & technology is a career rather than a religious calling. Such jobs in the civilian sphere include tradesmen such as electricians and plumbers, civilian automechanics, dataslate technicians, and other basic technical jobs that are found throughout virtually every strata of human civilisation. They may also be direct underlings of Techpriests, such as the assistants of an Enginseer that maintains an entire hanger of cargo lighters. Tech-Adepts are very common in the Imperial military - including the Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy, and planetary PDFs. Enginseers are simply not numerous enough to do everything that is needed, so appropriately skilled soldiers or voidsmen are trained into Tech-Adepts to assist with te impossibly vast maintenance & fabrication demands of the military. The opportunity to become a Tech-Adept for 'free' is often a popular reason for a citizen to enlist in their planet's PDF. In the Imperial Navy Tech-Adepts can be found switching out lights and mending broken air pumps throughout the ship, or attached to Armsman squads to help them break through enemy security systems during boarding actions or fabricate barricades and seal bulkheads when boarded. In the Imperial Guard there are entire Engineering Regiments made of Tech-Adepts who help the Techpriest repair & maintain the Guard's incomprehensibly vast armoury of vehicles & aircraft, and help construct fortresses and salvage weapons and defuse explosives - to name but a few examples. Meanwhile other Regiments will also have Tech-Adepts (usually soldiers already in the regiment but given additional training), for their frontline technical needs like lascutting and field maintenance, and naturally more mechanical regiments like Armoured regiments have a higher proportion of trained Tech-Adepts. Finally Medicae staff (both civilian & military) such as Surgeons, Doctors, Nurses, and Medics are often considered a form of Tech-Adept, and can often work alongside or beneath Techpriests Biologis in their hospitals & clinics. However while Life Sciences are a major division of the AdMech it is not a 'hoarded' domain that is solely theirs like most mechanical sciences, because Medicae is such an ingrained & propogated pursuit in all human societies. So the majority of civilian & military medciae is handled by Doctors & Medics who were taught by predecessors in independant Medicae Schools that do not necessarily have any Mechanicus involvement. Category:Adeptus Mechanicus